European tour of “The Polarity Party”

Poster project The art of conflict and restorative dialogues: Where choreography and conflict resolution meet

The MichaelDouglas Kollektiv (Germany) and its participatory choreographic event “The Polarity Party” will travel to Bucharest, Sassari and Poznań, as well as in the digital world, in 2022! This immersive public event uses movement, perception (or senses) and dialogue to enable a process of collective thinking dedicated to challenges which are key in our societies such as polarisation.

Large groups of participants (max 120) will step into a field of action where choreography and conflict engagement meet. This artistic work is shaped by collective creative processes, in line with other practices meant to create more just, safe and connected societies, such as restorative justice.

The coordinator of this tour is the European Forum for Restorative Justice, a network organisation promoting dialogical responses to harm by engaging all those affected in coming to a common understanding and agreement on how the harm or wrongdoing can be repaired and justice achieved. Other partners are the Bucharest Fringe Festival (Romania) and the Malta Festival Poznań (Poland), two internationally renowned art festival with a programme dedicated to participatory approaches to arts and community building for social transformation and intercultural dialogue.

Check out the final video of the project here below

The Polarity Party - European tour from MichaelDouglas Kollektiv on Vimeo.

“The Polarity Party” is an immersive, participative event on polarization, created by the MichaelDouglas Kollektiv (Germany) in collaboration with conflict specialist Dana Caspersen (USA).

During the event, participants step into a field of action where choreography and conflict engagement meet. There is no performance and no spectators, instead simple actions such as walking, sitting and talking become tools for reflections and interaction. The hosts/ creators of the project are dance artists who act as guides as participants move through a series of carefully crafted, action-based situations and configurations. Participants are invited to consider the questions: What is polarization? What does it do in us? What do we do with it?

“The Polarity Party” offers a situation where we can focus on the mechanism of polarization itself and our role in it. Each event may be followed by masterclasses for artists and/or for justice professionals. Workshops focus on the process of creating participatory events that integrate practices from conflict engagement and choreography. They are accessible for all and do not require any physical skill. The methodologies covered are applicable in fields ranging from social work and mediation, to business and education, to the arts and public dialogue.

The Polarity Party - Trailer Engl. & Deutsch Subtitles from MichaelDouglas Kollektiv on Vimeo.

Perform Europe is an EU-funded project aimed to rethink how performing arts works are presented across borders in a more inclusive, sustainable and balanced way by testing new touring and distribution practices and providing policy recommendations for a future EU support scheme. This 18-month journey includes a research phase, launching a digital platform, testing a support scheme, and designing policy recommendations.

Perform Europe is funded by the Creative Europe Programme of the European Union and co-managed by a Consortium of 5 organisations: IETM – International network for contemporary performing arts, the European Festivals Association (EFA), Circostrada, EDN – European Dancehouse Network, and IDEA Consult.

Perform Europe supports the project "The art of conflict and restorative dialogues: Where choreography and conflict resolution meet".